Los Niños de Izanami: Culminación
Children of Izanami: Climax Act I Horrors and Nightmares, a Dark Truth Revealed "In my years, I have witnessed and experienced pain of nearly all degrees." At her desk, Avaron sat with a lit cigarette in her mouth and a paper in her hands. Her narrowed eyes scanned over its contents with a slightly frustrated look. Though she appeared to be skimming, she was actually taking in every word written on the sheet. After several seconds of reading, she put the paper down and gave a heavy sigh, closing her eyes. She lowered her head, keeping her pose for a minute. "I have seen the mother hold her child as it died in her arms. I've seen my own comrades get slaughtered like animals on the field. War displayed every bit of it to me without regret or mercy, and I've somehow managed to push myself through it all and still keep strong. But I've never seen or experienced something so fucked up as this. I thought it to be nothing more than some faux religion that could be ignored. But it's true... every bit of it is true... and it's coming into fruition." Slowly, she reached underneath her desk to pull out an HCA-50 Kidō Pistol, placing it within its respective sheath and standing up. "I can accept that..." She placed her hands in her pockets, calmly walking out the door. "But I never knew that it was the fellow student I trained beside that caused it. Well... maybe I did, but I never thought it would turn out to be this way. Oh, well... serves me right for getting my hopes up." "Let's get this over with..." She muttered, her cigarette flitting around in her mouth as she made her way towards the office of Taka Nakanome. "-DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE?!" Taka's voice reverberated his office, as a thin cloud of smoke gathered and hovered around eye level, as he had been smoking and hadn't stopped since he came to his office, making a number of calls and looking over a large strategic layout map of Yuurei Okouku. There was a lapse of silence as Taka heard the caller's response, before he slammed a fist into his desk, nearly indenting his knuckles into the cheap countertop, "I don't give a Damn about morale! Where the hell did the ENEMY go?! You don't surround and bombard an entire city then just leave! I want a report on this ASAP! Do you hear me?!" After a brief line of response, Taka slammed his phone onto the reciever so that it rang out in a nearly painful sound, roaring out, "DAMMIT TO HELL!" "Holy hell, Taka. What did Lady Luck do to piss you off?" The door had opened up, revealing Avaron casually leaning against the doorway. Her arms were folded across her chest and her legs were crossed, a casually neutral expression on her face. Her cigarette was at the corner of her mouth, the smoke trailing into the sky. From the "do you mean" to the slamming of the phone", she had heard him vent frustrations out on an unfortunate subordinate. But by now, it wasn't new news to her. "This whole war fucked up," Taka ran his gloved hand through his hair as he slumped onto his worn and weathered leather chair, leaning against it as he grabbed his halfway smoked cigarette from the ash tray to take another whiff, as he had already a good dozen stubs resting on them, three of them fresher than the rest, "I fight a enemy who's sole purpose is to create a utopia, something every f'ing being desires, but in order to do that, they have to F'ing kill this city. Why?! The Hell I should know!" He then turned and swiveled over to look at Avaron with his single eye, slightly glimmering with yellow light with the built-in optic on his left eye, before taking the cig and pointing his forefingers offhandedly at her, "and you know somethin else screwed up? Not only has nearly every FREAKING Sector has taken casualties in sense or another, leaving Commander Sonoda's of Sector 3's completely free of casualties, but the enemy suddenly decided to play hide-&-F'ing-seek!" "Yeah..." The smile faded from Avaron's face at the mention of Kenta. She closed her eyes and sighed, pushing herself from the doorway. However, she still kept her spot. "I've heard about the sudden enemy retreat by my own subordinates. Normally, I would be taken by surprise by this sudden and illogical change of tactics, but under these circumstances..." She took a look behind her. "Have you been outside recently?" "Oh yeah, how could I have forgotten," Taka began as he swiveled his chair over to his drawn down shades, promptly pulling it down once before letting it roll up, showing a perfect view of the unholy "crosses" in the distance, "I have a fan-f'ing-tastic view of a giant obilisk that looks like it was shipped straight from Hell's post office! Though I'm pretty sure all we need now is a mountain of corpses, some fire and brimstone, and we got Armageddon!" Taka let his arms fall to his sides before sighing, turning around to look at Avaron fully with a serious disposition now, crossing his arms, "Honestly, Avaron, I thought this was going to be some sort've sacrilidgeous "Holy War" that the humans had during their crusades. They'd come in, wage their petty crusade with their countless minions until they gave up and realized their gods aren't real. Now after the things I've seen and the stuff that's been happening...I dunno," he puffed another cloud of smoke into the air, before reengaging eye contact with his superior and comrade, asking her in a tired voice, "was there some more bad news you wanted to tell me, asides the obvious new view out my window?" "Extremely bad news." Closing the door behind her, Avaron walked towards one of the chairs in front of the desk and sat down, folding her hands in her lap. "The entire underground shelter has been turned into an executing ground. I just got word that some members of Sector 3 have been slaughtering civilians and using the underground shelter as a means to escape the watch of the rest of our sectors. As of now, the population of the capital city's been reduced to nothing more than dozens." "No....," Taka turned deathly pale, slumping down onto his chair, his pupil dialated and unnerved as he asked almost incredulously out loud, "no, why? WHY?!" Almost within a instant an enraged fist smashed through his desk as he stood up, his nostrils flared and his eye burned a deadly golden hue, "WHO GAVE THAT ORDER?! HOW DID SECTOR THREE GET PAST SECURITY WITHOUT US KNOWING?!" "The same way Sector 3 recieved no casualties." Avaron's eyes narrowed into slits, her eyebrows slanting downward in her own quiet fury. She closed them, continuing to explain in a calm yet vehement manner. "As much as I hate to admit it... Kenta was the one who gave the order to kill them all. It was a move made to summon this damned hell on our city and assist the Ahijados. They may have fled, knowing that their goal was already accomplished...." "...Or they're waiting to come in when our guard is down and raze the city in preparation of their F'ing utopia, dammit!" Taka snarled as he began pacing back and forth, fury boiling within him. Everyone he fought to protect, everything he saccrificed for, everything he swore to defend...dead and murdered no less by the same men who swore the oath and took up the badge of Overwatchmen. With a loud yell, Taka lifed up his broken desk and threw it at the wall with one heave, huffing and puffing with uncontrollable wrath within himself, "Where's Sonoda?! Where is he, Avaron?!" He glared indirectly at her eyes, as he raised his hands up into clenched fists, as his eye glowed hotly, "I want to make him suffer a thousand times over for this horror he's allowed to happen!" That was something Avaron had not been expecting. SMASH! Her eyes widened in shock as Taka hurled the desk into the wall, her mind having not registered the reckless move. However, once she saw Taka breathing uncontrollably, her leadership instincts kicked in. "Taka, get a grip!" She snapped in a scolding manner, bringing herself to stand up from the chair she was sitting in. "We do not act out of revenge, but justice! No matter what happens, we go by the book and the book only! Do you understand me?!" For a moment, she fixed a stern glare into his unique eye-sight, folding her arms across her chest. She couldn't have one of her best men fly off the handle like this - not when she needed him. "By the F'ing book?! Haven't you noticed, Captain?!" He waved a hand towards the window in emphasized exasperation, as he continued to yell out, "an ENTIRE Overwatch ''was perverted by Sonoda's psychotic inclinations of manslaughter and world destruction! Everyone of them went as far as you know "by the book" until now! We lost the city's populace save our current military and police forces, and we don't know what will happen to them when they learn their families and loved ones have been slaughtered by our OWN comrades!" "And flipping your lid's going to help any?! Killing Kenta isn't going to bring any of them back!! The damage has already been done!! ''I know that!!" Avaron angrily retorted, gritting her teeth as she felt fury and self-loathing thanks to his words. She remained silent for a moment more, maintaining a vicious glare into her subordinate's eyes for several seconds. It seemed like she was ready to start an argument right then and there with Taka. However, her expression immediately faltered. She calmly turned her head and body away from him, reaching into her pocket and spitting out a cigarette. "I came here because I need your personal help. As of now, no one else knows of Kenta's betrayal but you and me. If word of this gets out... chaos will ensue. I've already been through two Civil Wars. I don't want another." In her other hand, she had a lighter with its flame already lit. She stuck the cigarette end to the fire, looking over her shoulder solemnly. "Kenta's position's at 117 Brooklyn Road, and he's maintaining a sniping position along with his own personal patrol. I want you to come with me so that we can corner and apprehend him." Taka's breathe hitched as he saw his superior yell back, clearly feeling just as guilty and sickened with what had transpired. His eye lost some of the vigorous vengeful glow and his merely sagged slightly, a long sigh ensued as he heard her words, before locking eyes with her again in understanding. "What about the Captains or the Soul Reapers? Don't you think we should get some backup in the event he escapes?" Taka asked with a note of caution, knowing that including people in the loop would be dangerous, but in the situation they were in he wouldn't want Kenta to escape. Not when he would pay for all the horrible atrocities he's committed. "He's not going to escape." Avaron said simply, a cold tone lacing her voice. "It's one of the many advantages of being tagged along with him under Damian. We know each other far too well..." "Lucky for us," Taka said with a slight gleam of excitement he would actually be allowed to hunt down his long hated rival and now turned-traitor comrade. He walked over to his smashed desk, going to the underside of it he pried out the cheap piece of covering to reveal a disembodied Kido rifle. As he took out the parts and put them onto the floor, he quickly assembled it as he kept in conversation with Avaron, "what's our mode of transporation? Kenta's probably got his eyes peeled for anyone coming into his proximity so using vehicles may be out of the question..." "Anyone but police." Avaron corrected him, placing her hands on her hips and looking away from him once again. "We can get as close as the front door before they can have an excuse to do anything about us in broad daylight. So all we have to do is drive and kick down the front door." "Sounds like fun," he finished cocking his rifle as he had everything assembled within record timing, a feral smile gleamed on his face as he grabbed his hat and placed it over his head, with a bandoleer of explosives and various pieces of equipment over hsi chest as he finished concluding, "that and the only people we have to worry about is his personal Sector 3 Overwatch, who've been said to be some of the most deadly and proficient of the Police Force." "Other than my own personal unit, of course..." Avaron responded coolly, reaching out to take the doorknob in her hand once again and pull it open. "My ride's out front, and the destination's only block-long. We'll be there before you know it." With that, she stepped outside of the door and began to walk down the hallway, not needing to check behind her as she knew Taka was following close behind. "Let's make one thing clear, Captain," Taka said with a low, serious tone as he checked his weapons carefully, following her with quick steady steps, "if I see that bastard and you're not with me, I'm taking the shot. That's all the Justice that those poor souls he murdered deserve and it'll be much more merciful than what he deserves." It was a decision Avaron dreaded to make. If she knew anything, she knew that Kenta was a clever and cunning man. She might as well have been the only one who truly knew him for what he was. His intelligence made him a deadly opponent to contend with - something that had been made apparent long ago when she fought that vicious gun duel against him. The logical part of her mind thought it was best to take his life, fearing that he would only cause another uprising the next time. However, it was that very same connection to him that fought against that cold and tactical way of thinking instilled in her by Damian. She knew him, he knew her, and their minds were open solely to one another. There was a chance that maybe, just maybe, she could talk him down and make him step down from the path he had chosen. It sounded like nothing more than a dream in concept... but it was just as strong as the killing desire within her. It tore her apart just thinking about it. Hearing Taka speak such words, though, did not suit well with her. "Might I remind you who's in charge here?" She answered smoothly, though with a warning and irritated tone in her voice. "You'll do nothing unless I'' give the ''order to." "Whatever you say, boss," Taka said in a low tone his eye filled with hate and his teeth ground together with malice and vengeance, his blood boiled for the chance to make Kenta scream for the thousands of people he slaughtered offhandedly. "Look..." Avaron sighed heavily, shifting her hands to her pockets. "I understand your own personal vendetta with Kenta. But police do not kill unless they truly have to. Otherwise, how different would they be from the likes of cut-throats like him? What would the ones we saved think about us if we killed out of vengeance, because we decided right then and there that someone should die without any consideration for who we're supposed to be? They'd hate us more than they would've hated the criminal who was killed. Would that be right?" At this point, she had stopped at the exit, pushing the door open and stepping out onto the sidewalk. Her personal car was right in front of them. "Right," Taka sighed out, moving to the passenger side while getting a quick scope out in the event there was any company. After seeing the coast was clear, he was about to enter when he looked at Avaron, he simply said, "Just for the record, I told you so." At that particular statement, a slow grin crossed the Captain's face. "I know." With that, she quickly jogged around to the driver's side, fishing out her car keys and pressing a button on the monitor device. Both locks sprang up into view, and she pulled the door open. She slid herself into the driver's seat, shut the door, stuck the necessary key into the ignition hole, and turned it in order to start the engine. As she looked through the windshield, she saw only the sidewalks, roads, buildings, and nothing more. "This just makes it all the nervewracking..." She thought to herself, letting out a heavy sigh and lowering her head a little. "God damn it... after all this is over with, I'm just going to go out and do some serious drinking. The paperwork can wait..." She grumbled gruffly, placing both hands on the steering wheel. "I can't imagine," Taka said in a almost grimacing blissful tone as he saw the nigh emptiness that made tif we live the entire city void as they drove towards their destination, "that if we live through this, how much quieter it will be thanks to this war." Taka's mind drifted back to his time in the Police Force's creation, after the Civil War's bloody conclusion. He saw among those among him that swore the pledge, taking the oath, and raising their arms in unison as the new Commanders of Sector Overwatches, he noticed one face that didn't looked revered or honored by the ceremony. One dark haired man who simply had a bland, emotionless expression with eyes hiding everything from within, standing mere meters away from himself. From the moment Taka's eyes laid upon him, he instantly detested him, distrusted every notion and every action, always believing something was amiss with him as if he had an ulterior motive to fulfill. '' ''Months later, Taka approached him in his office, wanting to play the part of a good cop and offer him a salutations as a way to get to know someone as well as be a better comrade to one another. With a rapid, upbeat knock, Taka was dressed in a white casual suit with black necktie, braided his hair back as he was back from a party with some of his subordinates and decided while the night was young and Kenta was still up and about within his office, decided to give him a break, ''"''Yo! Commander Sonoda! I want to talk to you." "Come in." The man in question was sitting at his desk, reading over a report that had been filed in. He didn't look up from the door, allowing his voice to be the only indicator that he had heard Taka. Taka forced himself to take a deep breath inwards before opening his eye and smiling a pleasant, cheerful smile, as he walked in with a bottle of wine in hand, cork still fastened and all, holding it up while he walked in, "Yo, Sonoda. How's it going?" This was when Kenta looked up from his paper, meeting Taka's gaze directly. He was quick to take in the man's appearance first. It was obvious that he was about to head to a party... something that seemed to be too "unnecessary" in his eyes. However, if he felt any true disgust towards the revelation, he didn't show it. "Sorry, I don't swing that way." He muttered in a dry joke, already guessing what Taka's intentions were for him. Taka let out a amused chuckle, knowing he must've picked up his classy dressed appearance as a innuendo of sorts. He quickly dismissed any irritation of already trying to pick on him, swinging his bottle and hand side to side in emphasis, "As tempting as that sounds, Sonoda, neither do I. I actually just got back from a party that some of my subordinates were hosting, but I left early," he walked to the front of his desk and gently sat the wine down, turning it over to show the year as one of rarity, showing something of more a friendship gesture than a "date" inclination, "I thought I'd swing by here and give you a break. We haven't really spoken in the past few months since Overwatch commands have been assigned. So, I thought I would be the one to break the ice, so to speak." "Give me a break?" Kenta frowned slightly, shifting his attention back to the newspaper he was reading. "You make it sound like you're my superior. Besides... I'm technically on my break right now. I just prefer not to spend it in such a racket." "Take it easy, Sonoda," Taka waved dismissively, grabbing one of the office chairs within the uniformly clean office before wheeling it over for him to take a seat, "and its not exactly foreign for commanders to come by and treat each other to drinks. Its a social thing, if you believe me or not, though I actually have yet to see you anywhere outside this office on downtime, and its starting to worry me and the others..." "I go places whenever I feel like it. It's just that you and the others don't happen to see when I do." Kenta answered readily, shifting to the next page of his newspaper. "There's nothing to worry about, commander Nakanome." "That's not something I'd be so casually to tell people," he said with a sheepish smile and a sweatdrop at Kenta's casual remark, before clearing his throat, "and its Taka when I'm not uniform, no need to label me by rank when I'm not on the clock." Kenta shrugged lightly. "If you insist..." He said, shifting to another page. "Any updates or new news I should know about?" Taka sighed slightly, knowing conversing with this man would take some time and patience. If it was common news that would get him to reveal a bit about himself, then he would play along. '' ''"Well...there was a incident at the castle about some immigrant that was causing a little bit of a racket," Taka said with a amused grin, scratching his chin as he propped his arm with his other hand, "the guy was said to be a Red Sun philosopher and was kicked out of the Soul Society for believing in anything other than its laws...something like that. There was also some petty riots within the outskirts near the Museum District, close to that old Mausoleum, don't know why, they just started getting violent for no reason. Thankfully, no casualties were heard of, but they closed off access to the Mausoleum as well as other landmarks in the event that vandals would target the areas for reasons or madness who knows what..." "Pity that the Soul Society would treat its own citizens in such a manner..." Kenta commented dryly. "With that logic still in place, I can only wonder how that we managed to establish an alliance with them in the first place..."'' "You sure its a good idea to judge things without firsthand evidence, Kenta-san? I've only told you what I've heard, there could be any number of reasons what really happened and who that person is. Don't you care about facts?" Taka asked in a polite, yet queried tone, as he leaned back in his seat, taking out a corkscrew as he simultaneously grabbed the wine bottle and began to screw into the cork. Kenta cocked a skeptical eyebrow, looking up at Taka briefly before switching his gaze back to the paper once again. "If the situation proved to be more dangerous than expected, than Yūrei would never let such an immigrant come into the outskirts of it, let alone this capital city. The information flowing between us as well as the Soul Society would ensure that. Though... I could probably guess why you only ''heard of the incident rather than bother to put the pieces together."'' POP! '' ''Within a instant, the cork popped and comically ricocheted across the room before smacking Taka in the face, causing him to mutter unintelligible curses before rubbing his forehead. He then took the liberty of taking out the pair of wine glasses he took in with him and began pouring the liquid into the glasses, the bubbles hissed and crackled within as he spoke, "It sounds like you don't trust many people, Kenta-san. Don't you think that's a little...unhealthy, for someone who's in charge of so many people?" "Trust weakens people." Kenta said bluntly. "It kills the mental defenses and leaves even the strongest of fighters vulnerable to deception, betrayal, and trickery. Anyone and everyone can turn on you within an instant. It's a trait that only gets in the way of my duties." "Trust has its benefits you know," Taka countered, placing a glass right in front of Kenta while placing the bottle on the desk and sitting back down, sipping his wine filled glass, "its necessary for effective strategies, teamwork, and building strength to have trust within others. Without it, everyone eventually secregates themselves from each other and split apart, making a organization as strong as its weakest link, and easy prey for those who would seek to destroy us and what we stand for." "My sector has been run with cooperation, not trust. It has held itself together for years without my subordinates have to lean on one another constantly. Maybe you run by that philosophy, Nakanome, but I don't." Was the other man's reply. "You won't gain any support by going by the old way of doing things,Sonoda," Taka said a little lowly, as gulped a swallow of his wine, before saying with a little uneased tone, "and I wasn't just talking about your sector. If you treat everyone with that mindset, no one will support or trust you either. In the end, no one will find you worthy of command if you trust no one but yourself." It was the words that caused Kenta to stop reading the paper, dropping it on his table and revealing a cynical raise of his eyebrow. For a moment, he didn't allow himself to speak at all. He merely fixed a gaze on Taka's person, conveying an expression of annoyance and resentment. It was one thing to give an opinion. But it seemed like Taka was ''challenging him and the way he did things. He felt like he was being patronized by his fellow commander.'' So he decided to fight back. "Do you speak for everyone....?" He questioned, a quiet but vehement tone in his voice as he spoke. "Or do you speak for yourself and yourself only when you say that no one will trust me?" He placed his arms on the desk, his annoyed look turning into a slight glare. "Let's stop holding hands like a couple of school-girls, Nakanome. You don't ''trust me. You've shown that from the very moment you walked in my door."'' "You know what?" Taka gulped down the whole glass of wine before setting it on Kenta's desk and leaned in close to him, saying with a forced smile, "I'm trying to be nice. I'm trying to be your comrade and get along with you. Its pretty hard to trust you when all you do is skulk in the shadows and reject any invitation at socializing with anyone. I understand you have a way of doing things, and I can accept that, despite how I don't like it. hell, Commander Raiton treats everyone like we're in a military operation, yet even he knows to accept other people's way of doing things and trusts others to do their jobs. If you'd actually go out of your way to trust SOMEBODY I'd probably wouldn't have to work the nerve to try and understand you!" "Under''stand me?" Kenta scowled, his teeth gritting slightly. He leaned back a little when Taka leaned forward, picking up the smell of wine and trying to ignore it. "If you have to force yourself to be in my presence, then you might as well stop trying to. If it's one thing I can't stand, it's people who don't even have the guts to be honest about their intentions."'' "I was trying to be your comrade, to find a reason to trust you," Taka said exasperatedly, standing up crossing his arms as he glared at him hotly, "but it seems you don't want comrades nor people's trust. You want everyone to do their job and leave you to your "work". Well fine! Skulk in the shadows, plot your schemes, but just remember something, Sonoda. If I find out that your "work" endangers the people of this country and this city I swear I will make sure you regret it," with that said, Taka turned around and walked out of the office, slamming the door behind him on his way out. Bump. "Hey, Taka. You still awake? We're here." Avaron's cool voice brought him out of his thoughts. True to her word, they were driving up towards the building Kenta was stationed at. There were Sector 3 police officers walking away from the building in the standard patrol, their sub-machine guns holstered in their hands as they made their way down the designated paths. In front of the building were two officers, their weapons also holstered as the car made its way in front. Avaron let out a whistle. "Looks like we're lucky. Doesn't seem like there are too much guards in the building, and they don't seem to register us as a threat just yet." She reported. "Good for us in the long run." "Hm? Yeah, sorry," Taka said with a sigh, rubbing his hand over his eye, seeing the guards outside and patrolling like nothing was wrong made him slightly disconcerted, "it almost looks too easy, Captain. Sonoda is a sharp bastard, he must have a half a dozen plans for any contingency that's about to transpire. Should we take out the guards right now and just hope he doesn't notice?" "Well--" "Excuse me... commander Setsuko?" Whatever Avaron was about to say was cut off when she heard a third guard right beside the window. He leaned forward to the driver window in order to meet Avaron's gaze directly. "We had not been expecting your arrival here." He said calmly. "Forgive me for asking, but what would be your business here?" "It's fine..." Avaron calmly rested her arm on the seam where the window would've risen up from. "We're here to see commander Sonoda." With her other hand hidden from view of the officer, she jerked a finger towards Taka - a signal for him to leave the car and stand by. Taka complied with a silent nod, opening the door and closing it casually while crossing his arms, waiting for any further directives or "orders". He remained in a nonchalant, casual appearance as he scoped out each and every guard, measuring them for prone physical deffects, weaknesses, armanents and behavior. So far, they were alert, but not for the proximate threat that had yet to rear its head. Yet... "We're under orders not to let anyone in." Avaron frowned a little, pushing herself out of the car and shutting the door behind her. "This is important." She said, her tone somewhat pressuring. "Unless Sonoda has valid reason to shut out fellow commanders from his position, your orders are nullified." "I'm sorry, ma'am..." The officer, as calm as he was, refused to back down from the subtle threat Avaron made. He did back away from Avaron as she exited the car. "But we only listen to the likes of our personal leader. Your word has no jurisdiction as far as he is concerned." There was no expression in his words, his emotions carefully guarded in order to keep Avaron from reading him. The captain's eyes narrowed into slits, her frown growing into a scowl. "...is that so...?" She said lowly. "I think your leader forgot who's in charge of him. He doesn't have a say in the matter, and neither do you. So knock it off and step aside--" '''BANG! It happened without warning. One of the officers behind the talking officer had pointed a pistol in her direction and fired, barely missing her head. There had been no hesitation, no mercy, and no regret. It was clear that no matter what she said, Sector 3 was willing to kill her either way. This was the event needed for Avaron to spring into action. She lunged forward before the lead officer could retreat back to his comrades. Within a perfectly executed CQC move, she grabbed him, twisted him around, and put him in a tight neck-lock. "Taka! Go for one legs on each of 'em!" She yelled, viciously tightening the grip as the officer in her hold struggled to break free. BRA-BRACK! BRA-BRACK! Taka had already saw the lackey behind the lead officer already move in for the kill, seething with bloodlust as far as Taka's eyesight could tell as he deftly unholstered his unbuckled Mauler, instinctively aiming for the two patrolling officers that had yet to respond, the force of the red-lit-slugs destroyed the knees and severed the lower calf and foot from the rest of the body, causing them both to drop down in screams. The next shot expertly shot one in the thigh of the assaulting officer then aimed for his shoulder, forcing him to drop his gun on instinct as his arm nearly was severed from his body besides losing all sensation to his gun hand. "Done and done," Taka said cooly, without any hate or vengeance, as if it came upon instinct or casually as he eyed his handiwork, seeing that the various officers were all sprawled on the ground, despite their training have begun to wail and howl in pain, "nothing to them when they're the ones getting the drop on their heads." "Now, then...." Avaron turned her attention back to the struggling captor in her hold. "I don't know what you heard..." She stated calmly, her eyes narrowed slightly. "But it's obvious that your commander's pulled the wool over your eyes. My boys just got done uncovering a slaughter operation that wiped out the majority of the capital city's populace. The civilians are numbered by the dozens." That stopped his struggling immediately, his eyes widening and his pupils shrinking. "N-no..." He whispered, his voice frantic and shocked. His grip on Avaron's arm became shakier. "Y-you're lying, he never told any of us about that! He would never--" "A commander like me doesn't like to her subordinates." Avaron interrupted him. "And I know each and every one of you like the back of my hand. So I can safely say I know what I'm talking about. There's no point in trying to defend him anymore. All we ask is that you take us to him."